Wits blitz Fort Hare
It was a cagey start to the encounter as neither side were able to break the deadlock in the opening 10 minutes, however, it was broken eight minutes later when Wits' lock Rhyno Herbst crossed over. The try went unconverted.
The missed conversion mattered very little though as Wits doubled their lead a few minutes later when Herbst grabbed his second. Once again, the conversion failed to find its target.
Things got worse for Fort Hare in the 23rd minute when they were reduced to 14-men for the remainder of the match after Luyolo Batshise was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tip tackle. Wits took immediate advantage as they stretched their lead to 15 points a minute later when CJ Conradie crossed over to get his name on the scoresheet.
Fort Hare hit back a few minutes later when wing Akhona Matutu sped his way through the Wits defence to grab his side's first points of the match. He brushed himself off to convert his own try to trail 8-15 after 30 minutes.
The Eastern Cape side were enjoying a spell of dominance as the half came to an end but could not add further points to the scoreboard.
However, at the resumption of play, they struck through a solo effort by Siviwe Bisset. He ran down a kick up-field to collect the ball and get over the line. Fort Hare trailed 13-15 after 47 minutes.
Two quick scores through Constant Beckerling and Richard Crossman knocked the wind out of Fort Hare's sails as Wits stretched their lead to 31-13 after 52 minutes. That lead was extended by another five points through Beckerling to hand Wits a 36-13 lead at the second strategic break.
Herbst went from hero to zero at the resumption of play as he saw yellow for a dangerous tackle. The match would wait until the 69th minute for the next try as Conradie grabbed his brace to stretch the lead to 41-13.
Wits grabbed four tries in the final 10 minutes thanks to Conor Brockschmidt and a Sicelo Champion hat-trick to claim the emphatic victory.
Scorers:
For Wits:
Tries: Herbst 2, Conradie 2, Beckerling 2, Crossman, Brockschmidt, Champion 3
Cons: Gilbert 3
For Fort Hare:
Tries: Matutu, Bisset
Con: Matutu
Yellow card: Rhyno Herbst (Wits)
Red card: Luyolo Batshise (Fort Hare, 23)
Teams:
Wits: TBC
Fort Hare: TBC
Referee: Ricus van der Hoven
